A well known type of search tool allows a user to investigate an original list of items by generating a smaller filtered list of items. The filtered list of items is culled from the original list of items. In operation, a user can enter a search selection, which prompts the tool to generate a filtered list of items, where each item in the filtered list of items matches the search selection. For example, suppose that the original list includes a list of restaurants in a particular city. The user may receive a filtered list of restaurants that begin with the letter “G” by entering this character as a search selection. The tool then allows the user to navigate within the filtered list of items by moving “up” and “down” within the filtered list, such as by entering corresponding up and down navigational instructions.
While the above-described tool is helpful, it is not without its shortcomings. As appreciated by the present inventors, in the course of moving through the filtered list of items, the user may wish to expand his or her search by investigating items in the original list of items that do not appear in the filtered list of items. However, known tools do not allow the user to efficiently transition from the filtered list of items to the original list of items. For example, if the user wishes to examine the original list of items, the user may abandon the filtered list of items, activate the entire original list of items, and manually navigate down through the original list until she finds a desired item. Or the user may attempt to restructure the filtered list of items by entering a new search selection, which may result in the selection of a more satisfactory filtered list items. The above-described strategies for navigating within original and filtered lists of items may be cumbersome, possibly resulting in various inefficiencies and poor user experience.
For at least the above-stated exemplary reasons, there is a need for more effective techniques for finding items within a list of items.